360 Staff Pick: Modern Madrigals for December

What, you think you’re too cool for Christmas records? You’re going to like this one, and so will your granny.

The LA-based a cappella group Sonos has just released December Songs, filled with music for the season — several originals, plus some strange and soulful covers of classics. The group’s “Ave Maria” is an especially beautiful, surprising arrangement of the hymn, which morphs from traditional madrigal to pop anthem:

Sonos stopped by Studio 360 last year and performed some of the group’s best-known work: inventive covers of pop songs, including Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place.” They told Kurt that they sometimes get grief from purists (Sonos happily uses special microphones, loop pedals, and digital effects to alter the sound of their voices). But they also get major props from us for pushing the form in new directions: